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PLoS Medicine

Public Library of Science · United States · Est. 1970

ISSN1549-1277eISSN1549-1676

SJR Q1✓ WOS SCIE✓ Scopus / SJR✓ DOAJ✓ Open Access

Impact Factor & Quartile · Web of Science (JCR)

✓ Indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection (SCIE) — Clarivate publishes an official Journal Impact Factor and JCR quartile for this journal.

See the official Impact Factor & quartile on the journal’s page ↗

The Impact Factor & JCR quartile are licensed by Clarivate — we link you to the official source instead of reprinting a number that can go out of date. Open metrics below: SCImago Q1. Source: Clarivate Journal Citation Reports.

📊 Standing in its field

Where this journal ranks among others in the same subject area.

SJR · Scopus

Top 25% in field

Clarivate’s JCR quartile is a separate ranking and may differ

SJR Scorei

3.573

H-Indexi

350

SNIPi

3.211

Total Worksi

5,736

Total Citationsi

764,747

2yr Mean Citednessi

6.99

Open Impact Factor alternative

Retractions

Source: Retraction Watch

Aims & Scope

PLOS Medicine publishes significant advances in all areas of medicine and clinical research. We are committed to publishing the highest quality research, and we are dedicated to making this research freely available to the public.

General Information

Country / RegionUnited States

Primary LanguageEnglish

1st Year Published1970

FrequencyMonthly

StatusActive (last: 2026)

Total Publications5,736

Publisher OrgPublic Library of Science

OA Since2003

Visit Journal Website

Submission Info

Peer ReviewSingle-blind

OA LicenseCC BY

OA Rate—

Ethics & Quality

COPE Member✗ No

OASPA Member✗ No

Not on Predatory Lists✓ Yes

Plagiarism Detection✓ Yes

Think.Check.Submit Compliance

thinkchecksubmit.org

9/11 · 82%

✅

Do you know the journal / publisher?

Public Library of Science

✅

Does the journal have a website?

✓ Linked

✅

Is the ISSN verified?

1549-1277 / 1549-1676

✅

Indexed in a trusted database?

WoS, Scopus, DOAJ, PubMed

✅

Peer review process documented?

Single-blind

❌

Follows ethical publishing standards (COPE)?

N/A

✅

Not on predatory/blacklists?

✓ Clean

❌

Long-term digital preservation?

N/A

✅

Plagiarism detection in place?

Yes

✅

Listed in DOAJ (verified OA)?

DOAJ verified

✅

Primary language documented?

English

A twelfth criterion — whether APC fees are clearly disclosed — is not scored here; it is left out of the total rather than counted as a failure. Publication charges appear in the metrics card above.

Based on the Think.Check.Submit framework by DOAJ, COPE & OASPA. All data from verified open sources.

Publication & Citation Trend

Articles published

Citations received

292

24k

2019

344

32k

2020

335

25k

2021

237

11k

2022

174

5.6k

2023

158

2.9k

2024

196

1.5k

2025

199

155

2026

Source: OpenAlex · Each year’s green bar = citations earned by that year’s papers, counted to date — so recent years look lower simply because their papers haven’t had time to be cited yet.

SJR Quartile by Discipline

Scimago ranks this journal separately in each subject category — its quartile can differ by discipline.

BiochemistryQ1

BiotechnologyQ1

Cell BiologyQ1

Medicine (miscellaneous)Q1

Molecular BiologyQ1

Subject Classification

Web of Science Categories

Medicine, General & Internal

Scopus Categories

BiotechnologyBiochemistryMedicine (miscellaneous)Molecular BiologyCell Biology

Research Topics (OpenAlex)

HIV/AIDS Research and InterventionsGlobal Maternal and Child HealthMalaria Research and ControlChild Nutrition and Water AccessHealth Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of LifeGlobal Public Health Policies and EpidemiologyTuberculosis Research and EpidemiologyHIV Research and TreatmentMosquito-borne diseases and controlHIV/AIDS drug development and treatment

Frequently asked questions about PLoS Medicine

Is PLoS Medicine a predatory journal?

PubScope has no integrity flags on record for PLoS Medicine: it is indexed in Web of Science, Scopus, DOAJ, and is not on DOAJ's withdrawn list. Indexing is a transparency signal, not a guarantee — always confirm fit and policies before submitting.

What is the impact factor of PLoS Medicine?

PLoS Medicine is indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection, so Clarivate publishes an official Journal Impact Factor for it (since the 2023 Journal Citation Reports, every Core Collection journal — including Arts & Humanities and Emerging Sources titles — receives one). PubScope links to Clarivate's official source rather than reprinting the number, which can be out of date. Its open 2-year mean citedness is 6.99.

Is PLoS Medicine indexed in Scopus and Web of Science?

PLoS Medicine is indexed in Web of Science, Scopus, DOAJ.